Over the past 12 years, our church has undergone many changes. Many of the changes have been intentional. These intentional changes are not designed to be a rebuke against the way things were done in the past. Change does not mean that what used to be was necessarily wrong. These changes, however, have been designed to better serve and equip our church to follow and worship Christ. 

I am dedicating a series Wednesday evening services to preaching a topical series 

called “Practical Church.” You will find those sermons on our YouTube channel here. 

In this series, I mean to explain why we do what we do. I want to consider the practical actions of our church. 

This series will address subjects like . . .



— Why do we do church with the lights on?

— Why traditional rather than contemporary congregational singing? 

— Why do I emphasize consecutive, expository preaching? 

— Why 3 services per week? 

— Why pass the offering plate during the services? 

— Why use slides during the service — especially during the preaching? 

We may come up with more “why” questions as we move through the topics. 

Over the past two years, our church has begun to emphasize a “church” or “liturgical” calendar. Earlier this year we observed “Trinity” Sunday, and the week before that was “Pentecost” Sunday, and the week before that was “Ascension” Sunday. 

Being a lifelong Independent Baptist, I have never been in a church that emphasized such days. I grew up with emphasis given to Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Sprinkled in between these, my churches observed several secular holidays in their worship services. We had worship services dedicated to Independence Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Etc. 

All of those are good holidays (It’s MOTHER’S day, not “Birthing Persons” Day!). These special days are truly helpful for our society, and I do think it is appropriate to mention them in the church service. 

So why move emphasis away from these to a more traditional church calendar?

Jesus Deserves the Preeminence in our Worship Services.

My decision to lead our church into using a liturgical calendar is grounded on this principle: When we gather to worship Christ, Christ deserves to have the place of preeminence in our services. 

(Colossians 1:17-18, NKJV) (17)And He is before all things, and in Him all things 

consist. (18)And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, 

the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Preeminence means first place — the highest rank of all. Jesus deserves to be worshipped as the highest honor and glory in every one of our worship services. Nothing — not even good things — Nothing should usurp His place as the Object and Author of our Worship. Jesus Christ Deserves the Preeminence in our church for three reasons. 

His sacrifice for our salvation

(Colossians 1:13-14) (13)He has delivered us from the power of darkness and 

conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14)in whom we have 

redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

God delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of Christ. Now that deliverance was not cheap! It was purchased by the blood of Christ. It was not easy! But He endured the cross for the joy set before Him! So we should be grateful and express that gratitude in the emphasis of our worship.

Imagine that a benevolent man finds a child living on the streets in poverty and starvation. That benefactor takes the starving child into his home, formally adopts him, and raises him as his own son. The man provides good food, clothing, and education along with nurture, support, and undying love. On top of that, the man writes into his will that his adopted son will one day inherit his large fortune and estate. 

The boy grows up to be a young man. He gets married and has several children of his own. But he never speaks to his family about his adopted father. They focus on anything and everything other than that benevolent man whose love provided everything they enjoy. 

There is one exception. Every year, the family throws an extravagant birthday party in his honor. But even during that birthday celebration, they sing songs to honor fictional fathers as much as they honor him. And they get excited about the birthday gifts because it is a gift exchange. The presents go, not to the man whose birthday it is, but to the other members of the party. And when the birthday party is over, the adopted son and his family spend the rest of the year focusing their attentions on anything and everything other than the loving father. 

Judge for yourself: Is that gratitude? 

Jesus Deserves Preeminence in the Church because of His Sacrifice for our Salvation. Gratitude demands it. 

He also deserves preeminence in our church worship because of . . .

His sovereignty over creation and the church

(Colossians 1:15-18a) (15)He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over 

all creation. (16)For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are 

on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or 

powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (17)And He is before 

all things, and in Him all things consist. (18)And He is the head of the body, 

the church . . .  

Paul describes Jesus as the “firstborn” over all creation. In other words, Paul says that Jesus is supreme Ruler over all creation. The idea of being firstborn does not relate to literal birth but to His highest rank over creation. This is just like verse 18, where Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. Jesus wasn’t actually the first person to rise from the dead, but He is the most important one to rise. Jesus is not part of creation, but is supreme ruler over it. 

Verses 16-17 describe Jesus as the active Creator & Sustainer of the universe. He is Head of Creation! 

Paul goes on to declare that Christ is not only Head of Creation, but He is also Head of the Church (v. 18a). 

Mothers and fathers and freedom and soldiers are all honorable. We do right to mention them on certain days the secular calendar designates for them. But Jesus is more honorable. Sunday is, after all, the Lord’s Day — all of it. So we follow a liturgical calendar that always emphasizes Christ and the faith once delivered to the saints. 

Jesus deserves the preeminence in our church because He is Head of all Creation and Head of the Church. 

Also because of . . . 

His supremacy over death

 (Colossians 1:18) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the  

beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have 

the preeminence.

I am working from this principle: When we gather to worship Christ, Christ deserves to have the place of preeminence in our services. 

Now I will apply this principle to the Grace Baptist Church calendar.

Because Jesus Deserves the Preeminence in our Church We Emphasize the Church Calendar Arranged Around Jesus & His Word.

A typical Protestant liturgical calendar looks like the picture I included at the bottom of this article.

We do not observe “Ash Wednesday” or Lent because we believe it violates Jesus’ instructions about fasting (Matthew 6:16-18), but other than that, the emphasis of the year is thoroughly biblical. The entire year revolves around events and doctrines from the life of our Lord and from Scripture. 

In my lifetime experience, the churches I have attended have, to varying degrees, organized their calendars around secular events and holidays. For example — Halloween, patriotic holidays, sports (Super Bowl Sunday!), Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days sometimes received the entire emphasis of worship services. 

Now those things are typically good things, but we should not worship them. 

Jesus Deserves the Preeminence, so it seems a good idea to arrange the church calendar around Christ & His Word. 

Possible Objections

Because I am a Baptist and I have made a change, I anticipate some disagreement. I say that with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, but I do want to address four possible objections to using the liturgical calendar. 

Objection #1: This is too much like the Roman Catholic Church.

While it is true that the Romans Catholic Church utilizes the lectionary calendar, it does not follow that using a lectionary/church calendar will lead us into Roman Catholicism. 

For instance, the Catholic Church believes strongly in the doctrine of the Trinity. Should we reject the Trinity because it is too “Catholic”? The Roman Catholic Church observes “Trinity Sunday.”But that doesn’t bother me. I am more bothered by the fact that a lot of people in Baptist Churches don’t think about the Trinity enough. 

I also will not give up “Silent Night” at Christmas time just because it was written by a Roman Catholic Priest. 

Objection #2: A church calendar will breed “stale” religion.

Stale religion comes from hearts that are disinterested in Christ, not from worship services that emphasize Christ. 

Objection #3: We’ve never done it that way before!

Now THAT’S some stale religion! 

Objection #4: People will be offended. 

That is, we fear mothers will be offended if they come to church on Mothers’ Day and the service is not dedicated in their honor. Fathers will be offended on Fathers’ Day. Those of us who love our country will be offended if we come to church on patriotic holidays and find the service not patriotic enough. 

I get that, and I believe we should mention those people and institutions honorably during certain worship services. My church says the Pledge of Allegiance on the Sunday before Independence Day, for instance. I think we can do that without dedicating the entire worship service to our country. 

Now how does this tension play out in our practice? 

Memorial Day weekend fell on May 28th — the same day as “Pentecost” on the church calendar this year. So I spoke a little about Memorial Day, but May 28th was officially “Pentecost Sunday” in our order of service & our Emphasis. Does that mean we do not appreciate our service men & women who have died to defend our freedoms? No. It just means we worship Christ instead of heroic human beings. 

When we gather to worship Christ, Christ deserves to have the place of preeminence in our services. Our church calendar now helps to serve that purpose. 

See for yourself.